Shire Plants Blog

Plants suitable for cut flowers

Plants suitable for cut flowers

We are often asked for recommendations for plants which are good for cut flowers so we have now created a new category on the website for just that. These plants are known to provide flowers suitable for cutting, by virtue of long stems, good scent a...
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St John's Wort

St John's Wort

St John's Wort is the latest addition to our range. It's a wild flower which also makes a good garden plant. "It groweth every where in untilled pastures and fields, which are somewhat moist especially, and neare unto the borders of fields." (Gerard'...
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Perennial Sweet Pea

Perennial Sweet Pea

Lathyrus chilensis is a stunning perennial sweet pea. A vigorous plant, it will climb a structure or sprawl through a mixed bed and is covered in masses of pink flowers for much of the summer. It has the benefit of lasting for years and it self-...
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Are you dull and old?

Are you dull and old?

Are you, or do you know, a dull old person? Well read on because Sweet Cicely may be the cure!John Gerard was an Elizabethan physician and gardener, who published what became the most famous of all herbals - and I thoroughly recommend reading it, for...
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Wild Chicory

Wild Chicory

The origin of Chicory is described in a German folk tale. A young woman sat down at the side of a road to weep for her dead lover. None could console her, and so great was her grief that she resolved never to stop weeping unless she was turned into&h...
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Pillow Talk

Pillow Talk

Matthiola incana 'Pillow Talk' has the most heavily scented flowers and just a few stems can fill a room with a lovely fragrance. This plant has long been a cottage garden favourite, grown in the border for its masses of white flowers, or for th...
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Fox and Cubs

Fox and Cubs

This wonderful plant is called Fox and Cubs because of the dual appearance of bronzy-orange open flowers (the fox) alongside red-brown flower buds (the cubs). Tall stems hold the flowers above neat rosettes of dark green foliage from June to Sep...
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Beautiful wildflowers

Beautiful wildflowers

Our British native plants have some of the prettiest flowers. This is Dropwort (Filipendula vulgaris), which has coral-pink buds which open to beautiful fluffy white flowers. Eminently suited to our British pollinators, and wonderful in the garden or...
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The Chelsea Chop

The Chelsea Chop

It's Chelsea Flower Show, so it's time to go around the garden doing the Chelsea chop. This isn't a new type of dance, sweeping the gardening world, but a method of pruning for herbaceous perennials. The name comes from the timing of the task, which ...
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Robins Nesting

Robins Nesting

We've had to temporarily fence one off one of our potting benches because a pair of Robins have built a nest in a rubbish bag (on the ground in the corner). She's been sitting in the nest for a while, but now the parents keep nervously siding in with...
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World Bee Day

World Bee Day

It's #WorldBeeDay today and the RHS are encouraging gardeners to plant bee-friendly plants including Lavender, Oregano, Allium, Nepeta, Cosmos and more.Generally, bees require 'simple' or 'single' flowers, which allow them easy access to the nectar a...
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Pink Dandelions in flower now

Pink Dandelions in flower now

Pink dandelions always cause a double-take in the garden. These plants are identical to our native dandelion but they come from central Asia and the blooms are an attractive pale pink with a golden centre. They don't spread in the same way that our n...
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Erysimum 'Constant Cheer'

Erysimum 'Constant Cheer'

Erysimum 'Constant Cheer' is a well-named perennial wallflower. Its brick-orange flowers darken red and then change to mauve as they age. The plant flowers constantly, from late spring through into autumn.Full details in the shop, here.
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Facebook and Instagram

Facebook and Instagram

If you're on Facebook or Instagram, we update both regularly with new and interesting plants and plant information. You can view our pages here:Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/shireplantsInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/shireplants/
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Customer Feedback

Customer Feedback

We are proud to be able to list the Royal Horticultural Society, the National Trust, English Heritage, The Eden Project, several large private estates and even a celebrity chef among our valued customers. We love it when our customers email and here ...
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Perennial Violas

Perennial Violas

Perennial Violas, Victorian Violas, Tufted Violas - they have many names, but these Violas are a class above the annual bedding pansy. More refined, with neater foliage and smaller, but often more abundant flowers, they last for many years ...
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Cardoon

Cardoon

The Cardoon is a large, spectacular ornamental plant and quite a talking point when established.An architectural plant, with large, spiky, deeply cut, silver leaves with stout stems bearing 4" thistle-like purple flowers in summer, it does need some ...
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Cornflowers

Cornflowers

Lovely to see two of our cornflower varieties flowering in the polytunnel this week.Centaurea montanta 'Sulphurea' has the most gorgeous soft-lemon coloured flowers and Centaurea montana 'Purple Heart' is white, with violet-purple centres. All C...
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New Plants Growing On

New Plants Growing On

This is just one of our polytunnels, full of young plants growing on. At this time of year we are updating our stock levels on the website frequently and if you are looking for a plant, or plants, currently showing out of stock on the website, you ha...
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Oxlips

Oxlips

The Oxlip (Primular elatior) is an British native wildflower, classified as endangered in the wild. Similar to the Cowslip, it has larger and paler flowers, which smell of apricots. Oxlips were traditionally used to treat coughs and rheumatism. We ar...
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